Swimming: Germantown Academy throttles Episcopal Academy in dual meet

WHITEMARSH — As the diving break drew to a close, Episcopal Academy coach Brian Kline huddled his swimmers in a corner of Germantown Academy’s pool deck Monday. He exhorted them to focus on the end of their races, to put their heads down and finish strong — just as they hadn’t in the first half of the meet to create the large deficit they faced.

One race later, all an incredulous Kline could do was throw his hands up and let out a chuckle. Germantown Academy’s arsenal of talent can have that effect on people.

The 100 butterfly, a race that saw Episcopal’s Emily Rhodes control the race for 90 yards before falling to third behind Carolyn Yang and Natalie Dowzicky, was by no means the deciding blow. But it was emblematic of a day in which the GA girls were simply awe-inspiring, putting together a 122-64 throttling of their Inter-Ac rivals. The GA boys were also convincing in their win, by a 121-62 margin.

Perhaps most amazing was the fact that this was the second straight rivalry win for GA (8-0, 6-0 Inter-Ac), which dispatched Peddie School (N.J.) 125-55 five days ago. Of the 24 individual swims in each meet, only eight were the same in both, illustrating the outstanding depth coach Dick Shoulberg has at his disposal.

“It keeps them guessing,” GA double-winner Rachel Zilinskas said. “I was talking to Shoulberg about that before the meet. For example, we have a couple of girls who are incredibly strong in the 200 free, and I swam the 200 free at Peddie. And he said he was going to lighten up the 200 free today, because maybe they’ll think we’ll hit it really hard. A lot of other teams, they might have a couple of studs, but you can pretty much guess the events they’re going to swim. But for a team like us, we have so much talent and so many girls that can win multiple events, so it really allows us to play with the lineup.”

The Georgia commit Zilinskas is the best example of that depth. A distance freestyler by trade — and by Shoulberg’s mega-yardage program — Zilinskas showed her ability in the 200 individual medley, winning in 2:04.10 over teammate Madison Visco. Later in the meet, she outraced EA’s Emma Seiberlich in the 100 backstroke, clocking in at 57.25.

The final result may not have been different had a few bounces went EA’s way, but the score line certainly could’ve been more comfortable. McKenzie Street, battling through an illness, finished .15 seconds behind Hayli Randolph in the 200 IM, a 1-2-3 sweep for GA. Tara O’Prey looked to have the upper hand in the 50 free but fell .3 behind Shannon McKernan (also the winner of the 100 free); in the battle for fourth, Rachel Farmer was barely outpaced by Emily Smith. Rachel Repke had a similar story unfold in the 100 breaststroke, having Visco get her hand to the wall .4 seconds quicker.

EA diver Kara Madey finished first, but GA still managed to win the event by going 2-3-4. It wasn’t until the 100 backstroke, with Seiberlich, Sarah Baturka and Rhodes finishing 2-3-4 that EA finally won an event.

It was that kind of day.“I think everyone came together and swam even better than at Peddie,” Zilinskas said. “I know I swam miles better than at Peddie. Everyone swam fast, and everyone swam well for each other, and it was really awesome.”

“I don’t know, I don’t really think about it,” GA’s Maegan Dollard said about the Patriots’ edge in the final few yards. “I just put my head down and get to that wall as fast as possible.”

The Patriots spread the wins around liberally. Dollard was first to the wall in the 200 free, outtouching teammate Emily Erwin and EA’s Bernadette Tankle. Erwin claimed the 500 free, Tankle breaking up a 1-2-3 finish. And GA was tops in each relay, including pulling a surprise in the 200 medley relay with Zilinskas leading off to claim top points from a domain traditionally ruled by EA (6-1, 5-1).

After the meet, Kline preached regrouping for Inter-Acs and Easterns, shaking off a week of heavy training and exams that preceded the GA loss. His swimmers seem to have recovered even faster.

“We have a goal. We know what we’re doing,” Repke said. “We have our ultimate vision and plan for this season. So this meet isn’t going to affect us. It’s just a little bump in the road, and it’s going to help us get to where we need to be at Easterns.”

“Everything that happens here today stays here today,” Tankle said. “We’re moving on. We’re getting so close to Easterns and Inter-Acs. Everything we do in practice, in the weight room, we do 110 percent. We’re getting really excited and really psyched up.”

In the boys meet, the only two Episcopal swimming wins came via Ben Baturka. He scalded the field in 49.50 seconds to win the 100 free and was dominant in the 100 back, winning in 54.13.

The story for EA, though, was diver Josh Owsiany. At first count, he had an easy win in diving with 288 points, cleary ahead of his brother Andrew (241.55). But a recount showed his score was actually a school-record 321.55. And that’s from a program that he’s still adding to, including a dive that only scored him fours Monday.

“I was really happy about that,” the All-Delco said. “I’m learning new dives like that back two-and-a-half, and I just added a three-and-a-half. If I could’ve gotten a couple better scores, it could have been even higher.”

Six different Patriot boys won events, and they were victorious in all three relays.